The assessment of endosonographers in training

Abstract

Endosonography (EUS) has an estimated long learning curve including the acquisition of both technical and cognitive skills. Trainees in EUS must learn to master intraprocedural steps such as echoendoscope handling and ultrasonographic imaging with the interpretation of normal anatomy and any pathology. In addition, there is a need to understand the periprocedural parts of the EUS-examination such as the indications and contraindications for EUS and potential adverse events that could occur post-EUS. However, the learning process and progress vary widely among endosonographers in training. Consequently, the performance of a certain number of supervised procedures during training does not automatically guarantee adequate competence in EUS. Instead, the assessment of EUS-competence should preferably be performed by the use of an assessment tool developed specifically for the evaluation of endosonographers in training. Such a tool, covering all the different steps of the EUS-procedure, would better depict the individual learning curve and better reflect the true competence of each trainee. This mini-review will address the issue of clinical education in EUS with respect to the evaluation of endosonographers in training. The aim of the article is to provide an informative overview of the topic. The relevant literature of the field will be reviewed and discussed. The current knowledge on how to assess the skills and competence of endosonographers in training is presented in detail.

Keywords: Endosonography, Fine-needle aspiration, Education, Assessment, Educational, Learning curve, Clinical competence, Quality indicators

Core tip: Endosonography (EUS) has an estimated long learning curve including the acquisition of both technical and cognitive skills. However, the learning process and progress varies widely among trainees in EUS. Therefore, the performance of a certain number of EUS-procedures during training does not automatically guarantee adequate competence. Instead, assessment tools developed for the evaluation of endosonographers in training should better reflect the true competence of each individual trainee. This mini-review addresses the issue of clinical education in EUS and describes the current knowledge on how to assess the skills and competence of endosonographers in training in detail.